Apple, Steve Jobs, and investors are all still trying to adjust to Jobs sitting at home and not in the office

A recently published report from the Wall Street Journal indicates that although he's technically on medical leave from his company, Apple CEO Steve Jobs is still closely involved with a couple of different projects at the company.

Company COO Tim Cook handles day-to-day operations at the Cupertino-based company, but Jobs is working from home on strategies and products projects -- he evaluates products and product plans, and remains very close to the company's biggest projects.

Apple is reportedly working on a new version of the iPhone along with a new portable device that is bigger than an iPhone and smaller than a regular notebook.

Apple refuses to discuss how the absence of its CEO affects the company, but the Apple Senior Vice President of Marketing had this to say: "We're just trying to do what we do every day." The company has worked hard to try and convince investors and analysts that despite Jobs no longer working full-time at Apple, his presence doesn't effectively make or break the company.

Apple expects to have Jobs back in the office sometime in June, but that's a tentative date that must be cleared by his doctors. In January, Jobs temporarily stepped aside to deal with a hormone imbalance that made him noticeably slimmer and weaker, other executives and journalists said at the time. Shortly after, he said the condition was worse than previously thought, and would leave the company for six months.

Aside from the publicly disclosed hormone imbalance, little else is known about other possible health issues that plague the Silicon Valley icon. Jobs underwent treatment for pancreatic cancer about five years ago -- and he's reportedly cancer-free and healthy -- but specific reasons for his illness haven't been released.

Several members of Apple's board of directors are speaking with Jobs and his doctors, attempting to figure out when he'd be able to safely return to regular work days again.

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